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Copyright,  1903,  1904,  by 
Fox,  Duffield  and  Company 


The  Trow  Prest,  N.  Y. 


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To  rejoice  in  life  because  it  gives 
you  the  chance  to  fuss,  and  to 
laugh,  and  to  study  the  moon;  to  be 
satisfied  with  your  natural  gifts  in 
this  direction,  but  not  content  till  you 
have  made  the  most  of  them;  to 
despise  nothing  but  rudeness  and 
cautiousness,  and  to  fear  nothing  but 
bungling;  to  be  governed  by  policy 
rather  than  by  instinctive  admiration; 
to  covet  nothing  that  is  your  neigh- 
bor's except  that  which  you  want 
and  he  has;  to  think  seldom  of  your 
failures,  often  of  your  successes,  and 
to  spend  as  much  time  as  you  deem 
wise  in  a  feminine  atmosphere — these 
are  little  pointers  in  the  golden  book 
of  fussing. 


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Rule  I 

HYPOCRISY,  thou  art  a  jewel ! 
Pick  out  what  you  and  the 
girl  know  to  be  her  worst  points 
and  ask  her  if  she  minds  your 
mentioning  your  admiration  of  them. 


Rule  II 

EVEN  if  you  were  voted  the 
handsomest  man  in  your  class, 
don't  presume  that  a  lady  is  "  pinning 
roses  on  herself"  simply  because  you 
are  monopolizing  all  her  calling  hours. 
"  Make  good "  with  at  least  an  oc- 
casional car  fare  or  proffer  of  escort. 
Otherwise,  at  some  psychological 
moment,  you  may  find  yourself  tak- 
ing a  far  back  seat  in  favor  of  a 
homelier  but  wiser  man. 


Rule  III 


// 


LEARN  a  girl's  little  vanities  and 
f  flatter  her  long  and  openly  con- 
cerning them.  This  can  be  safely  done 
for  an  indefinite  length  of  time  and 
is  very  taking.  Unless  you  know  her 
vulnerable  points,  however,  implied 
compliments  are  safer. 

8 


Rule  IV 


ANGLE  for  a  lady's  hobby,  and   when  you've  hooked    it 
,  play  her.      If  the  lady   in   turn  angles   for  yours  don't 
jump  at  the  bait. 


Rule  V 

DON'T  drop  her  like  a  hot  coal 
the  minute  the  music  stops. 
Seem  loath  to  let  her  go,  and  waltz 
a  few  extra  steps  if  necessary.  This 
is  tremendously  telling,  and  so  easy ! 


Rule  VI 

WORDS  are  cheap.  When 
introduced  to  a  girl  at  a 
ball,  even  if  you  decide  that  she 
won't  do,  at  least  remark :  "  May 
I  have  one  later  on?" — It  makes  for 
good  feeling. 


10 


Rule  VII 

DO  occasional  penance :  it  is  good  for  the  soul.  Make 
the  saddest  girl  in  the  room  feel  that  she  is  the  most 
attractive  while  you  are  talking  to  her;  or  dance  during  an 
evening  with  at  least  one  "  ice- wagon." 


zi 


Rule  VIII 

LET  your  feminine  charm  enhance 
r  the  attractions  of  your  athletic 
prowess.  After  a  strenuous  yesterday 
let  him  find  you  cool  and  dainty 
to-day  in  a  muslin  gown,  and  very 
feminine  in  manner.  Heavy  boots 
or  tennis  shoes  alone  will  never 
take  you  far  along  the  Fusser's 
Path. 


Rule  IX 

HOLD    off    at    times    the    little 
attentions  which  you   feel   are  ^ 

expected  of  you,  but  don't  hold  off 
too  long.  This  rule  has  both  a  mas- 
culine and  a  feminine  application. 


12 


Rule  X 

HUMOR  the  Athletic  Girl.      Make  her  feel  that  she   is 
the  one  good  fellow  of  her  sex,  but  never  imply  that 
this  masculine  touch  detracts  from  her  feminine  charm. 


X3 


Rule  XI 

RESPECT  her  serious  side  (if 
she  has  one)  and  don't  meet 
her  fads  with  an  amused,  indulgent 
smile.  She  won't  love  you  for  that 
attitude  of  male  superiority.  It  makes 
her  feel  that  the  real  thing  in  you  is 
lacking,  and  in  spite  of  herself  she 
loves  the  real  thing. 


Rule  XII 

CULTIVATE  a  tact  that  conceals 
itself.  If  you  feel  that  a  man 
is  caught  with  you  at  a  dance  don't 
aggravate  the  wound  by  laughing  to 
him  at  the  situation  and  yet  show  no 
inclination  to  find  a  way  out  of  it. 


14 


Rule  XIII 

'T    ET  the  method  of  fussing  fit  the 
■    -^  girl.     For    remember   all    girls 
aren't  cut  from  the  same  pattern. 


Rule  XIV 


^ EMEMBER  that  all  that  chills 


R 


you  is  not  cold.  In  all  proba- 
bility she  has  been  advised  to  refuse 
an  invitation  once  in  a  while,  or  to 
be  out  occasionally  when  you  call. 
Above  all  she  may  fear  to  give  the 
impression  that  she  is  sitting  at  the 
telephone  waiting  for  you  to  ring  her 
up.  Learn  to  distinguish  between  a 
slight  frost  for  diplomatic  reasons 
and  the  cold  spell  that  ushers  in  a 
whole  winter  of  discontent. 


15 


Rule  XV 

WATCH  how  the  wind  blows! 
On  a  boat  place  the  straight- 
haired  damsel  with  her  face  to  the 
breeze.  This  keeps  her  stray  locks 
in  place.  She  knows  they  are  unbe- 
coming to  her,  and  she  can  enjoy 
you  more  when  not  worrying  about 
her  looks.  The  girl  with  curls, 
however,  rises  superior  to  any  wind 
that  blows  ;  and  is  aware  of  the 
fact. 


M 


Rule  XVI 

AKE  her  care  before  you  try 
to  make  her  jealous. 


t6 


R 


Rule  XVII 

EMEMBER     always    to     "  keep    your    eyes     in    the 
boat  "  I 

17 


I 


Rule  XVIII 

BE  graceful  as  well  as  useful. 
In  diving  under  a  table  at  the 
end  of  a  dinner,  for  the  purpose  of 
corralling  your  partner's  handkerchief, 
gloves,  smelling  salts  and  fan,  don't 
mar  your  host's  mahogany  by  a  too 
violent  impact  with  your  skull.  It 
may  create  some  temporary  amuse- 
ment, but  detracts  on  the  whole 
from  your  reputation  as  an  accom- 
plished fusser. 


Rule  XIX 

DON'T  assume  that  you  are  her 
only  suitor.  Imply  rather  by 
your  general  attitude  that  all  man- 
kind, of  course,  is  ready  to  eat  out 
of  her  hand. 


i8 


Rule  XX 

DISCRIMINATE  between  the 
false  and  the  true.  When 
she  truly  cares  she  is  apt  to  appear 
indifferent,  but  she  almost  surely  is 
indifferent  when  she  appears  to  care. 


Rule  XXI 

BE  ready  to  learn  from  any  one. 
There  are  subtle  depths  in  the 
gentle  art  of  fussing  which  even  yet 
may  not  be  revealed  to  you.  If  you 
study  the  method  of  your  best  be- 
loved you  will  discover  things  you 
never  dreamed  of  before. 


19 


Rule  XXII 

WHEN  negotiating  a  difficult 
street  corner  don't  grasp 
your  fair  companion  by  the  crook  of 
her  shapely  elbow  and  steer  her  in 
one  direction  if  she  shows  any  real 
inclination  to  set  sail  in  another. 
The  course  of  true  love  is  never 
helped  by  such  a   crossing. 


Rule  XXIII 

DON'T  think,  because  he  sends 
you  $10  bunches  of  violets  at 
his  own  free  will,  he  enjoys  being 
trapped  into  car  fare  and  soda  water. 


20 


Rule  XXIV 

USE  but  two  fingers  to  help  a  lady  into  a  car  or  cab, 
and  mind,  no  pushing ! — [This  rule  carried  into 
effect  makes  you  the  third  man  in  America  who  really 
knows  how.] 


ai 


Rule  XXV 

MAKE  Up  to  the  little  sisters 
and  all  small  girls.  You  may 
be  able  to  lord  it  over  them  when 
you  are  twenty  and  they  are  only 
ten.  But  some  day  when  they  are 
twenty  and  you  are  thirty  the  tables 
will  be  turned— and  they  don't  forget. 


Rule  XXVI 

NOTICE  details  in  a  girl's  looks, 
tastes,  and  frocks,  and  at 
some  far  future  time  compliment 
her  on  them.  Length  of  memory 
linked  with  closeness  of  observa- 
tion will  doubly  flatter  her. 


aa 


Rule  XXVII 

lEWARE  of  too  long  calls.  Although  it's  true  you've 
been  brought  up  to  believe  that  some  girls  think  a 
beau  in  the  parlor  worth  two  in  the  hair,  this  maxim  may 
not  hold   good   after  midnight. 

23 


B 


Rule  XXVIII 

BE  politic.  When  talking  to  one 
girl  do  not  expatiate  on  the 
accomplishments  of  other  *'Pippins" 
and  "Queens":  it  betrays  the  ama- 
teur hando 


y  Rule  XXIX 


A'  U       ^VTEP carefully.  Remember, when 


S 


you  put  your  foot  through  a 
lady's  $250  gown,  that  her  sweet 
smile  upon  you  is  all  composed  of 
heroism  and  that  you  are  lucky  if  she 
is  not  inwardly  cursing  you.  Learn  to 
gaze  earnestly  into  your  partner's 
eyes,  at  the  same  time  that  you  skill- 
fully and  delicately  avoid  the  edge 
of  the  "creation"  trailing  just  ahead 
of  you. 


34 


Rule  XXX 

STRIVE  for  a  happy  medium  in 
seating  a  lady  at  the  table. 
Neither  be  so  slow  that  she  is  in 
danger  of  missing  her  chair,  nor  in 
such  a  hurry  that  you  knock  the 
edge  of  the  table  against  her  knees. 
The  first  seems  to  denote  a  vacuous 
mind ;  the  last  makes  you  appear  too 
eager  for  food. 


Rule  XXXI 

CARRY  yourself  with  confidence 
but  not  with  over -assurance, 
remembering  at  the  same  time  that 
almost  everything  is  your  fault. 


H 


Rule  XXXII 

DON'T  add  insult  to  injury.  It's 
a  great  mistake  to  try  to  cover 
up  one's  rudeness  to  a  lady  by  an 
attitude  of  general  nastiness.  Almost 
impossible  as  this  may  be  for  you 
to  grasp,  she  sees  through  your 
assumed  attitude  every  time  and 
accepts  with  astonishment  the  fact 
that  any  one  can  be  so  silly. 


Rule  XXXIII 

DON'T  kiss  your  dollar  good-bye 
before  treating  your  best  be- 
loved. Spend  what  you  can  afford 
with  kingly  carelessness  and  make 
up  your  laundry  bill  in  another 
quarter.  • 


26 


Rule  XXXIV 

FUSS  the   chaperone,  even  at  the  expense  of  a  tete-a- 
tete  with   "the   only   one."     The    longest    way   round 
is  —  sometimes  — the  shortest  way  home. 

37 


) 


Rule  XXXV 

NO  matter  what  degrees  of  inti- 
macy and  warmth  your  inter- 
views may  attain,  terminate  them 
with  a  return  to  your  usual  conven- 
tional manner.  Suggest  that  "  it's  all 
off"  even  if  you  intend  calling  her 
up  on  the  'phone  within  the  hour. 
This  tactic  adds  the  two  ingratiating 
elements  of  elusiveness  and  surprise 
to  your    intercourse. 


y^         Rule  XXXVI 


^  '  T^ON'T  be  timid  about  "  butting- 
JLy  in"  at  a  ball.  No  girl  in  this 
world  was  ever  annoyed  because  a 
man  made  her  look  popular. 


a8 


o'' 


Rule  XXXVII 

CULTIVATE  a  breathless  eager- 
ness to  leam  everything  about 
Her,  whether  it  be  her  views  on 
Browning  or  the  kind  of  scent  she 
uses,  and  jolly  her  with  gentle  ques- 
tionings to  this  end.  This  is  one  of 
the  cheapest  ways  for  acquiring  the 
reputation  of  an  "interesting  talker." 


Rule  xxxvin 

DISCOVER  fancied  resemblances 
to  celebrated  actresses  or  pro- 
fessional beauties.  Use  the  formula, 
"  Do     you     know     you     remind     me 

more    of than    any    other 

woman  I  ever  saw?"  and  flavor  to 
taste. 


ag 


Rule  XXXiX 

DON'T  take  the  game  seriously. 
She  may  be  only  an  accom- 
plished fusser,  and  not  really  in  love 
with  you  at  all. 


M\ 


^.^  Rule  XL 


B 


E    chivalrous    to    all    but   easy 
to  none. 


JJC  SOUTHERN  REn 


A     001  034  538     7 


